The following are links for my teaching materials:
Phenomenology of Live Audio/Visual Performance in Contemporary Space
hoffjust@gmail.com
Instructor: Justin Hoffman
Catalog Course Description: As a class we will take a Phenomenological approach to the context of light, sound, and interactivity in contemporary spaces. Advanced installation issues and practices of performance based art, electronic/emerging technologies and new genre art making. Students use traditional and non-traditional processes to create installations, performances and telecommunications-based pieces.
Description for Schedule of Classes: Issues and practices of time-based art, electronic/emerging technologies and new genre artmaking using traditional and non-traditional processes to create installations, performances and telecommunications-based pieces.
Course Objectives: To familiarize students with the issues and practices of installation, performance, time-based and new genre artmaking. By the end of the course, the student will be able to:
Recognize and use traditional design elements in non-traditional work.
Communicate visual sequences.
Operate electronic media: video, film, sound recorder.
Construct plans for performance/installations.
Course Content and Scope: Emphasis in this course will be on introducing students to non-traditional art making based in performance, the new technologies and electronic arts.
I. Performance
II. Time-Based Art
III. Electronic Arts
IV. Installation
Methods of Instruction:
Lectures
Demonstrations
Slide Lectures
Discussions
Individual and Group Critiques
Field Trips to Performance Spaces, Galleries, Museums
Web-Based Research/Presentations
Appropriate Texts and Supplies:
Video Art/ Performance: A Border Theory , The MIT Press, 1991.
Modul8 tutorial – Available Online
Garageband tutorial – Available Online
Final Cut Pro tutorial – Available Online
Pure Data tutorial – Available Online
Syllabus:
Class 1 – Lecture – Provide history of Panorama Art, Visual Presentation, Live Music, Poetic Narratives. Examples to students on content appropriate for a live video venue.
Assignment: Read Pages 56 – 66 of Video Art/ Performance: A Border Theory
Class 2 – Intro to Video – A tutorial on Final Cut Pro, Demonstrate to students how to create a video timeline and export video to a quicktime file. Demonstrate to students how to compress files.
Assignment: Utilize Video Sample Provided in class lecture and export into a quicktime movie.
Class 3 – Guest Presenter – Anne Bray will come in to lecture regarding the Freewaves video arts festival, and the utilization of video in an installation environment.
Assignment: Read Pages 68- 84 of Video Art/ Performance: A Border Theory
Class 4 – Lab – Discuss mise en scene, ambient art, autonomy, utilizing a space as an installation artist, tempo of video, editing styles and attributes specific to this genre. Allow students to create their own imagery, and help them export imagery to external hard-drives. Artists to be presented and discussed: Paul Chan, James Turrell, Andy Warhol, and Nam June Paik.
Class 5 – Lab – Project 1
Work on editing a 3 – 5 minute silent video art piece designed for the projection specific for a corner viewing, installation space. Attempt to creating a video object that functions as sculpture within the stated environment.
Class 6 – Lecture/Lab – Students present their work to the class. Have a group critique and discussion regarding the chosen work, focusing on artistic attributes, genre specific, tone, voice, and message.
Class 7 – Guest Lecturer – Anil Camci will discuss the power of music within art, the theory and themes surrounding Sound as Sculpture.
Class 8 – Lecture – Provide examples of John Cage, Beck, Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Discussion on message, tone, and genre specific music. Provide a tutorial on Pure Data. Demonstrate to students how to create simple patches in Pure Data. Introductory tutorial to Pure Data programming language and premade audio mixing patches.
Class 9 – Guest Presenter – DJ Paul V. , Neon Noise of Indie 103.1 will present his audio compositions to the class. In addition he will demonstrate the equipment that he utilizes for live presentations and how the installation environment, acoustics, song selection, and song creation are affected based on the installation space.
Demonstrate to students how to manipulate digital beats and export audio to mp3 format. Demonstrate how to create beats utilizing vocal chords, ordinary objects, or beat making devices. Have students bring in their examples of favorite music for live performance.
Class 10 – Lab – Project 2
Sound Collage: Working in teams, create a sound collage depicting an environment, and a change or transition in that environment. Your project should be 1 – 5 minutes long, and must use sound effects gathered from both the internet and real world.
We will be using the Edirol R-09 to make field recordings
Free sound effects and other recording can be found at freesound and arhive.org
For inspiration, check out the soundscapes at:www.digitalartweeks.ethz.ch/web/DAW/Soundscapes06
Class 11 – Have students present their work to class. Discussion regarding their work, effective messages, effective rhythms.
Class 12 – Lecture – Demonstrate to student how to use the Abelton Live Software. Creation utilizing built in digital effects, incorporation of Abelton Beats to audio timeline, creating a non-linear audio timeline in class.
Class 13 – Lab – Project 3
Music Mashups: Working in teams, create a song within Garageband. The song should appropriate mainstream artists, natural sounds, sound effects, etc., in order to create a song that is a musical anthem to the picture provided to the students in class.
Class 14 – The students present their work live in class, with a critique centered around the associations inspired by the usage of appropriation.
Class 15 – Lab/Lecture – Demonstration on setting up and using of CD-DJ turn tables, Audio Mixer, and Midi. Students will practice on this hardware with the audio Mashups created in Class 12.
Class 16 – Guest Presenter – LA -VA – Los Angeles Visual Artist Collective will present visuals for the class, and discuss the usage of appropriated materials, live compilation, and the artistic qualities to their individual work. Discussion centered on artists such as Christian Marclay, Animal Charm, Mike Kelley, George Legrady, and other interactive and live performance artists.
Class 17 – Class will learn Modul8 – a live video editing software.
Class practice assignment – To create a digital autobiography with a hue and effect symbolic of your persona.
Class 18 – Lab – Project 4
Performance Video: Working in groups collect appropriated footage, video tape footage, pictures, etc. to create a live video performance that includes the piece of prose provided to you in class. Your project should be 4-8 minutes long, and must utilize the live rendering effects within Modul8.
Class 19 – Present your video projects to the class, class discussion surround selections of imagery, incorporation of selected prose, and selected effects that accompany your imagery.
Class 20 – Lab – Final Project
Final Performance Project: Select a partner to create and discuss your final project. Final Assignment will be a full presentation that incorporates live audio and video within the installation space for the final show. Final show will be presented at a local venue, where the class is providing the live entertainment to the audience. Groups of two will combine to create a piece that creates a dialogue to one of 3 selected pieces of literature provided to you in class.
Class 21 – Lab – Work on Final Projects
Class 22 – Class will present their video and audio pieces live as a final performance during a live local event.